Ficlets & Drabbles

Title: Parent's Day

Summary: It's parent's day at the mansion, but not everybody has parents.

Words: 1848

Rogue glared at all the families from the distance. With scorn filled eyes she watched as each student happily greeted their parents. It was disgusting.

"Mom! Dad! I'm so glad to like see you!"

She could hear Kitty screech as she raced to her parents. Rogue had to force herself to look away as she hugged her parents. She had hoped by settling outside, under a huge oak tree with the Vampire Lestat, she would be able to ignore the inevitable Parents Day. Apparently it was the perfect spot to see the parents arriving.

Letting out a low sigh, she tried reading Lestat again. A few seconds later she threw the book down in frustration. Faintly she could hear Miss Perfect, Jean Grey as she greeted her perfect parents and her perfect sister. Scowling, she got up and stomped deeper into the woods that surrounded the mansion.

Not really paying attention to where she was headed, Rogue collided with another body. Luckily no major harm was done, meaning no bare skin had come in contact with the other person. Looking up ready to tell the person off for not paying attention even though it was her own fault, she saw that she had bumped into Scott.

"Uhh, sorry Scott. Ah didn't see yah there."

"It's alright. I wasn't really paying attention myself," He admitted. "So, what are you doing out here?"

"Could ask yah the same thing," She replied, raising an eyebrow inquiringly.

"Just felt like some fresh air is all." He lied.

Rogue nodded her head though she knew he wasn't telling the truth. She knew the real answer anyway. It was the same reason she was out there.

"I knew it. Scooter and Roguey are having a secret affair," Tabitha snickered, arriving on the scene along with Ray.

"Yeah and Gambit's gonna go crazy with jealousy and kill him in a fit of rage," Ray added.

Smirking, Tabby continued, "Yeah and when Jean finds out she's going to kill Rogue and during the autopsy Beast will find out she was pregnant."

"And Jean will be tried for a double homicide but she'll kill herself before the trial."

Scott and Rogue both rolled their eyes at their exaggerated declarations.

"Ah swear yah watch too much of those dang soap operas Tabby."

"And you need to stop hanging around Tabby and Jubilee so much Ray." Scott glared.

Tabby merely stuck her tongue out in response.

"So why are you guys out here?" Ray asked.

This time it was Tabby who rolled her eyes. Slapping him on the back of his head she spoke, "The same reason we're out here idiot."

"Oh yeah." Ray sheepishly replied, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "Sorry about that."

"It's alright." Scott mumbled. After that the four mutants fell into an awkward silence.

"Well," Tabby said after a while. "This had been fun but can we do something else."

"What do you have in mind?" Scott asked instantly regretting it when the words came out of his mouth. Asking Tabitha what she wanted to do when she was bored was a recipe for disaster.

Reaching into her pockets, Rogue pulled out a deck of cards. "I took these from Gambit, wanna play a game."

"Sure." Everybody shrugged before sitting down on the grass, making a circle.

Taking the cards and shuffling, Scott asked, "So what game you guys want to play?"

"War."

"No."

"B.S."

"Not enough people."

"Four is enough," Ray argued.

Tabby responded, "But it's better with more than four people Pikachu."

"How about poker," Scott blurted out. He really didn't feel like hearing them argue. They did it enough at breakfast, in the rec room, by the pool, the danger room, on missions, just about any and everywhere.

"Awesome," Ray grinned.

"It doesn't matter to me."

Grinning like a Cheshire cat, Tabby spoke, "Why don't we make it a bit more interesting?"

"What, taking other people's money not interesting enough for yah?" Rogue gave the blond a look, already knowing that she had something in mind, something that could only mean trouble for everyone else.

"Yes and plus I'm broke." She smirked. "Instead of money how about the winner can ask a question and to anybody the loser has to honestly answer."

"Ah don't know about this," Rogue was the first to reply to the obnoxious blond's suggestion..

"Same here," Scott agreed.

"What, you guys chicken," Ray taunted as Tabby started to make chicken noises.

"Fine but remember it was your idea," Rogue hastily replied. The only way she had even taken Gambit's cards away from him was because she had won them in a poker game from him.

"Perfect, start handing them out Scooter." Tabby nudged the older boy.

Sighing, Scott did what he was told.

"So what, we're playing regular five card stud, nothing wild," Rogue inquired before picking up her cards.

"Somebody's been hanging out a lot with Gambit."

"Shut it blondie or we'll find out if cats really do have nine lives," She threatened, glaring at the bomb maker..

Ray raised an eyebrow at Rogue. "Me figures the lady protests too much."

"Me figures sparky is about to get unplugged."

"You definitely need to stop hanging around badger," Tabitha commented.

"Five card stud with nothing wild is fine Rogue," Scott intervened before Rogue lived up to her threat which he knew would. She wasn't exactly known for her patience.

Dropping it, Rogue looked at her cards as did everybody else.

"Give me two cards."

"One."

"Three for me." Ray added his cards to the pile.

Hurriedly passing out the cards, Scott was the first to show what he had. A pair of tens.

"I got nothing." Ray groaned.

"A pair of kings." Rogue showed her cards.

"Ha, a full house." Tabby triumphantly showed off her full house.

"So Rogue, how far have you actually gotten with Remy." She winked.

Groaning, Rogue hid her head in her hands as she mumbled out the answer.

Tabby scooted closer to Rogue, as Ray and Scott leaned closer to hear her answer. "What was that Roguey? I didn't quite catch that."

"We've kissed." She repeated, barely a whisper.

"What was that? I still didn't catch that."

"We've made out a few times okay." Rogue yelled, thankful for her heavy foundation or they would have seen how heavily she was blushing.

Scott and Ray were speechless. Like the others they had thought she hated Gambit.

"OMG!" Tabby squealed. "Kitty's gonna have a fit over this."

"Wai, wait. How? You still don't have control of your powers, do you?" Ray was completely confused along with the others.

"Yeah what about that?"

"Only one question Tabby." Rogue said as she piled up the cards and started to shuffle. Passing out the cards, she tried not to notice their stares.

"C'mon Roguey, tell us." Tabby whined, Ray joining in. Scott chose to remain silent. He didn't know how he felt about Rogue and Gambit together.

"Fine but yah better not tell us or everyone's gonna know about that game of truth and dare the two of yah played." She warned, letting a small smirk appear on her face at seeing their stunned faces. "We used a scarf."

"Ohh, kinky."

Wishing that she had just stayed in her room, Rogue looked at her cards. Going through the whole process of finding out what everyone wanted, Rogue proudly showed off the flush she had.

"So Tabby, mind telling us just what happened between you and Jubilee when you and Ray were playing truth or dare."

Tabby took a second to glare at the goth before turning to Scott and smiling innocently. Well as innocently as she was able to pull off. "Uhh, Scott, do you remember when you found all your underwear all iced up and in the War Room."

"Yeah, why?" He sent her a pointed look.

"Well, Bobby didn't really do it. It was sorta me and Jubilee."

"What! I gave Bobby a month of danger room sessions with Laura and Logan for that."

"It was Ray's dare!"

"Hey don't you try to pin this on me. You coulda taken the chicken."

"That's it both of you have two months of the danger room with Laura and Logan and you both have to apologize to Bobby and take over his chores for a month."

After a few complaints and scowls sent in Rogue's direction which she returned with a smile, the four returned to the game.

Half a dozen games and embarrassing secrets later, it was Ray's turn to ask a question.

"Scott, what happened to your parents?"

Immediately, Rogue and Tabby who had been arguing again went quiet along with the whole forest.

"Ray you dumbass." Tabby hit him on the head again, Rogue doing the same.

"Yah don't have to answer Scott."

"Yea we totally understand."

"No it's alright." He quietly spoke, staring fixatedly at his hands. "It was a plane crash. My father, he was a great pilot. I remember sometimes he'd take me to work with him and sit in the pilot chair and show me how everything worked. On one of his days off he took us all up. I'm not quite sure what happened but there was only two parachutes."

There was a moment of silence before Ray spoke. "At least you knew your parents cared. My mom and dad, if you could even call them that, kicked me out of the house even before I got my mutant powers. I was living with the Morlocks before Xavier picked me up after getting caught shoplifting."

Wrapping an arm around his shoulder, Tabitha said, "My folks weren't all that great either. My mom, she started drinking after both my parent lost their jobs and she hasn't been sober in years. She wasn't always like that though. We never had much but we always managed. And well, you guys know about my dad."

Rogue let out a low sigh before adding her own story. "My mother, my real mother was always there for me, or what ah can remember anyway. It was really just me and her before ah was forced in the foster system. Never knew my father. But ah never really cared, ah was happy. Ah really don't remember what happened to her and ah barely remember her face. Mystique adopted me soon after that and she was never really around and with Destiny ah was more like a tenant."

"God this is so depressing." Tabby said after a while.

Rogue agreed. "Tell me about it. Ah mean even Laura has somebody."

"Damn Parents Day." Ray said.

For once Scott joined the bandwagon and cursed Parents Day. "It's bad enough when summer and Christmas break comes around, reminding us that we don't have anywhere to go."

"Yeah."

"C'mon let's just get out of here." Scott announced, standing up as he twirled his keys in his hands.

"Don't you have to give a speech later to all the parents with Jean?"

Scott hesitated a moment before answering, "She can handle it on her own. Let's go you guys."

AN: I do have plans for Emma to appear in a later chapter, but let's see if I ever get around to actually writing it though if I did this is what I would name it:

Who Said Diamonds Were A Girl's Best Friend?